The true successor to the compact BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is styled like a slimmed-down Bold 9700.…
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There's not much more information available beyond the picture, but it's certainly a relief to see an improvement over earlier touchscreen prototypes. And it's even better to see RIM continuing to innovate, although it's likely months before we see this—or the final version of it—in stores. With the BlackBerry Storm having had touchscreen capability for some time, it's only natural to see that technology infiltrate other brands.

But what do all you BlackBerry enthusiasts think? Is this sacrilege, or progress?

UPDATE: Crackberry is reporting that this is almost definitely an early Magnum prototype, which sounds right to me. So expect to see a lot of these design elements sometime this year, though probably not this exact design. [Cell Guru via FoneFrenzy]